Molded in place rubber seat butterfly valve



Feb. 25, 1964 H. R. KlLLlAN 3,122,353

MOLDED IN PLACE RUBBER SEAT BUTTERFLY VALVE Original Filed Aug. 28, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 f7? dei? for.' Z7 jg 57 Feb. 25, 1964 H. R. KlLLlAN 3,122,353

MOLDED IN PLACE RUBBER SEAT BUTTERFLY VALVE Original Filed Aug. 28, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIC-3.7

Feb. 25, 1964 H. R. KILLIAN 3,122,353

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Feb. 25, 1964 H. R. KILLIAN 3,122,353

MOLDED IN PLACE RUBBER SEAT BUTTERFLY VALVE Original Filed Aug. 28, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 disc sweeps into and out of contact with the rubber seat, the hubs of the disc remaining in contact with the seat at all times.

One of the advantages of the present invention is that a very accurate seat may be formed centrally in the valve body so that an accurately round valve disc will have cornplete contact throughout its periphery with the seat mt.- terial. ln the past, seats of a resilient character have generally been separately made and either mechanically or adhesively secured in a machine valve body. Shims and similar procedures and devices Were used to t the seat to the valve disc. The necessity of such fitting of each valve is avoided in the present invention.

Referring particularly to FlGUl/ES 5 through 7, the valve body for the valve chosen for illustrating the in vention is shown las prepared to receive the resilient seat. The body 12 is a cast iron, or other material, member which has very little machining on its surfaces. The casting, as it comes from the mold, may have a cored hole through each trunnion l and f4. These cored holes are roamed to provide a smooth bore 4t? through the trunnion 13 and a similar smooth bore 4l through the trunnion 14, both bores being accurately centered on a 'center line through the valve body. Each bore is provided with a counterbore 42, 43, respectively, for receiving the pressure seals about the valve shaft. The face 44 of the valve body is ground flat, its face being uppermost in FGURE. 6. The opposite face 45 is machined with the ground face on a platen so that the machining operation will result in forming a valve body of a given thickness within a relatively close tolerance. Both faces 44 and 45 may be machined to reach the same result. The trunnions are given drilled and tapped openings 46 for the reception of the plate 35 and the valve operator. The described operations are all the machining operations required on the valve body to prepare it for receiving the resilient seat. ln addition, the surfaces to which the rubber material is to be bonded are appropriately cleaned to provide a good bond between the rubber and metal. The circular interior surface 47 of the valve is generally a rough cast surface which can and often contains considerable irregularities. The surface is generally cylindrical in form but may vary therefrom due to the casting procedures. These variations will not affect the accuracy of the seat to be formed. The last operation in preparing the valve body is the drilling of a locating hole 4S in the face 46 specifically in the boss i3 extension of that face.

An alternate and presently preferred method of forming the valve body is to give the inner surface 47 a rough .machining to insure that the surface is circular cylindrical within a tolerance of the order of plus or minus .C'lO inch. If this is done, the rubber seat material to be placed in the valve housing may have a more uniform thickness in turn causing a more uniform hardness due to the curing of the rubber along with more uniform shrinkag of the rubber material and a dimensional stability of the seat measured between any diametrically opposite points. if the valve body, as cast, has an inner surface 47 which is circular cylindrical and centered Witnin the body within the tolerances which would be obtained with a machined surface 47, machining operation may be omitted and the advantages thereof will still be obtained.

The placement of the seat material in the valve body is accomplished by using the valve as part of a transfer mold. Referring particularly to FlGURES 8 and 9, the prepared valve body lZa forms a part of a mold, including a lower mold part S9 and an upper mold part 5l. A locating pin S2 in mold part Sti is received in the locating hole 48 in the valve body. the valve body will be properly positioned on the lower mold 5t?. Complete orientation of the valve body relative to the mold is obtained by using the roamed openings 4t) and 4l in the valve body, inserting plugs 56 and 57 therein, to close the same and provide the desired con- At the location of the pin,

figuration for the seat erial around the valve shaft openings. The assembly of the valve body and mold parts results in the formation of a cavity ywhich may be filled with rubber or rubber-like material to form the valve seat.

ln the description of the valve, the seat material has a gasket on either face and the space for the gaskets is provided by annular recesses, such as 58 and 59, in the respective mold parts. The plugs 56 and S7 have a smaller diameter portion 56a and 57a, respectively, which enters the enlarged portions 54a of the cross bore in the lo-wer mold part in order to form a ring 6d of rubber material in the bores of the trunnions of the valve. This ring o@ will form a seal against the valve shaft when the shaft is inserted within the ring as assembled and illustrated in FlGURE 3. assembly may be completed by threaded rod 61 which holds the plugs bottomed against the lower mold part, and the inner part of the plugs in the mold part accurately centers the valve body relative to the mold parts. The upper mold part 5l. closes the cavity for receiving the rubber and a ring 62 thereon with bronze bearing rings 62a and 62!) is intended to enter the space above the seat cavity to transfer an accurately measured amount of rubber into the cavity. The lower surface 63 is shaped to form the one side of the seat as illustrated. The mold parts contact with the valve body in metal-to-metal contact at the extremities of the cavity formed for the rubber material. The cavity being filled with the rubber material forms a homogeneous valve seat within the valve body.

The techniques of transferring a rubber material into a mold cavity and curing (vulcanized) the same under heat and pressure are known. ln the present invention, the mold parts are treated so that the rubber material will not adhere thereto. The rubber is vulcanized in the mold, it being understood that suitable presses are used to apply pressure to the assembly of mold parts and mold body. Once the rubber material is vulcanized, the mold is disassembled and the valve body removed, the metal and rubber portions being unitary at this time.

Referring particularly to FIGURE l0, the central upstanding portion 53 of the lower mold is shown as having its smooth outer surface 55 slightly flattened at 64 and 65 to provide the flat areas for the hubs of the valve discs. The cavity C between the valve body and upstanding portion 53 of the mold is also visible. Pins 65 received in upstanding standards 71 on the lower mold part hold an upper ring plate o7 in proper position relative to the upper and lov/er mold portions. The raw rubber is placed between the upstanding central part 53 of the lower mold part and the ring plate 67 just prior to transfer into the cavity C. In assembly, the valve body is placed in position after which the rubber is inserted followed by the upper mold part.

The finished valve housing ready to receive the disc, valve shaft, bearings and seals, is illustrated in FIGURE ll. The inner surface 7i? of the valve seat 24 is perfectly smooth and corresponds in contour to the surface 55 of the mold. It is accurately centered within the valve housing irrespective of any irregularities or roughness or variations in the rough cast valve body. The thickness of the valve seat measured radially will be nonuniform, because the outer surface of the valve seat intimately follows theV rough cast housing and is bonded thereto. The inner working surface, however, is quite smooth so that an accurately formed disc will have sealing contact with the sant throughout 360.

van.

Referring again to FIGURE 3, the assembly is made Y by simply inserting a sleeve of nylon sheet or other bearing material to form the sleeve bearings 3l and 32, the

disc placed in the valve after which the shaft is inserted A The pressure seals may be of Y As illustrated in FIGURE 9, the

the valve housing so that the ubber seat has a substantially uniform thickness and hardness, the valve disc may be separately manufactured so as to have a minimum interference lwith the seat surface. The uniformity of the seat permits much less interference than would otherwise be possible. The immediate advantage is that the amount of torque needed to turn the disc in the valve is much less because of the less interference, yet complete 360 of sealing between the disc is obtained with each valve coming from the assembly line.

The valve is then ready for shipment and requires no fitting or handwork to insure proper operation under working pressures. 1t has been found that the valve of the present invention may be manufactured in the manner outlined so that the valve is fully competitive with gate valves and other valves used extensively in water service.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom for some modiiications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A butterfly valve, comprising:

a unitary valve body of unitized portions including an outer annular metal portion having a generally cylindrical centered opening therethrough, the walls of which with an inner portion of vulcanized rubber material bonded thereto form a passage for iluid;

the metal portion having a pair of opposite trunnions on a common center line extending across the valve body,

the walls of said Valve body metal portion forming said central opening having irregularities therein;

the vulcanized rubber material having a smooth inner surface accurately centered in said metal portion in relation to said trunnions and forming a valve seating surface, said rubber material extending longitudinally of the unitary valve body in the direction of tlow and substantially normal to the common center line of the trunnions so that said trunnion center line passes through the seating surface portion,

the outer portion of said rubber seat material bonded to said irregular walls and being united with said walls so as to be combined therewith throughout the contiguous area of the seat material and said metal body portion,

said seat material having a non-uniform thickness between said smooth inner surface and irregular walls due to its following said irregularities, said rubber seat material consisting of a mass of molded in place rubber material maintained in said relative position to the trunnions in said valve body metal portion;

a valve disc in said valve body having an outer edge cooperating with said valve seating surface to close the valve, and a valve shaft in said trunnions secured to said disc.

2. A buttery valve as specified in claim 1 wherein said mass of molded in place rubber material extends into each trunnion providing a ring of resilient material integral with said mass between said shaft and the valve body in sealing contact with the shaft.

3. A butterfly valve, comprising:

a unitary valve body of unitized portions including an outer annual metal portion having a generally cylindrical centered opening therethrough, the walls of which with an inner portion of vulcanized rubber material bonded thereto form a passage for uid;

the metal portion having a pair of opposite trunnions on a common center line extending across the valve body,

the walls of said valve body metal portion forming said central opening having irregularities therein;

the vulcanized rubber material having a smooth inner surface accurately centered in said metal portion in relation to said trunnions and forming a valve seating surface, said rubber material extending longitudinally of the unitary valve body in the direction of flow, said seating surface being generally circular in a plane transverse the direction of ow and located relative to said trunnions with its axis intersecting said common center line centrally between the trunnions,

the outer portion of said rubber seat material bonded to said irregular walls and being united with said walls so as to be combined therewith throughout the contiguous area of the seat material and said metal body portion,

said seat material having a non-uniform thickness between said smooth inner surface and irregular walls due to its following said irregularities, said rubber seat material consisting of a mass of molded in place rubber material maintained in said relative position to the trunnions in said valve body metal portion;

a valve disc in said valve body having an outer edge cooperating with said valve seating surface to close the valve, and a valve shaft in said trunnions secured to said disc.

4. A butterily valve as specified in claim 3 wherein said mass of molded in place rubber material is homogeneous and extends into each trunnion forming a ring of seat material in each trunnion, said ring being in sealing engagement with said valve shaft and being united with said metal portion forming a part of said unitary valve body.

5. A buttery valve as specified in claim 3 wherein said mass of molded in place rubber material and said metal portion are of Wafer-like shape With portions of said mass extending over each side of the metal portion providing a pair of spaced annular gaskets, one on either side of the valve body, said gasket portions having been united with said metal portion simultaneously with the rest of said molded in place seat material providing said unitary valve body.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,805,040 Voss Sept. 3, 1957 2,884,224 Fawkes Apr. 28, 1959 2,973,183 Alger Feb. Z8, 1961 2,985,422 Anderson et al May 23, 1961 2,991,043 Saar July 4, 1961 3,019,811 Young et al. Feb. 6, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 732,184 Great Britain June 22, 1955 

1. A BUTTERFLY VALVE, COMPRISING: A UNITARY VALVE BODY OF UNITIZED PORTIONS INCLUDING AN OUTER ANNULAR METAL PORTION HAVING A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL CENTERED OPENING THERETHROUGH, THE WALLS OF WHICH WITH AN INNER PORTION OF VULCANIZED RUBBER MATERIAL BONDED THERETO FORM A PASSAGE FOR FLUID; THE METAL PORTION HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSITE TRUNNIONS ON A COMMON CENTER LINE EXTENDING ACROSS THE VALVE BODY, THE WALLS OF SAID VALVE BODY METAL PORTION FORMING SAID CENTRAL OPENING HAVING IRREGULARITIES THEREIN; THE VULCANIZED RUBBER MATERIAL HAVNG A SMOOTH INNER SURFACE ACCURATELY CENTERED IN SAID METAL PORTION IN RELATION TO SAID TRUNNIONS AND FORMING A VALVE SEATING SURFACE, SAID RUBBER MATERIAL EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE UNITARY VALVE BODY IN THE DIRECTION OF FLOW AND SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO THE COMMON CENTER LINE OF THE TRUNNIONS SO THAT SAID TRUNNION CENTER LINE PASSES THROUGH THE SEATING SURFACE PORTION, THE OUTER PORTION OF SAID RUBBER SEAT MATERIAL BONDED TO SAID IRREGULAR WALLS AND BEING UNITED WITH SAID WALLS SO AS TO BE COMBINED THEREWITH THROUGHOUT THE CONTIGUOUS AREA OF THE SEAT MATERIAL AND SAID METAL BODY PORTION, SAID SEAT MATERIAL HAVING A NON-UNIFORM THICKNESS BETWEEN SAID SMOOTH INNER SURFACE AND IRREGULAR WALLS DUE TO ITS FOLLOWING SAID IRREGULARITIES, SAID RUBBER SEAT MATERIAL CONSISTING OF A MASS OF MOLDED IN PLACE RUBBER MATERIAL MAINTAINED IN SAID RELATIVE POSITION TO THE TRUNNIONS IN SAID VALVE BODY METAL PORTION; A VALVE DISC IN SAID VALVE BODY HAVING AN OUTER EDGE COOPERATING WITH SAID VALVE SEATING SURFACE TO CLOSE THE VALVE, AND A VALVE SHAFT IN SAID TRUNNIONS SECURED TO SAID DISC. 